Combine harvesters employ removable headers, sometimes called tables or platforms, for collecting crop material from the field into a feed housing of the combine from which the crop material is conveyed onward for threshing and separating.
Types of platforms include a cutting platforms, with a sickle knife cutter bar and rotating reel for cutting and collecting the crop material, among which there are auger-type cutting platforms that employ cross augers to convey cut material toward the lateral center at the rear of the header for entry to the feed housing, and draper-type cutting platforms that employ rubbers belts instead of augers to feed the material to the feed housing. Draper platforms include designs with flexible cutter bars that can better follow the contours of the ground to provide more effective collection of crop material compared to platforms with rigid cutter bars.
Other platforms include pickup platforms, which instead of cutting the material from the field, are design to pick-up previously windrowed crop material from the field, for example using tines that cooperate with a belt or draper to lift the windrowed crop material and convey it back to a cross auger for centrally delivering the collected material to the feed housing.
A known problem with auger-type platforms is seed loss due to the aggressive nature of the table augers in current pickup, rigid and flexible, combine platforms. That is, a notable volume of seed material is ejected upwardly out of the auger platform, and thus not than fed onward through the combine.
Prior attempts to address this issue include U.S. Pat. No. 2,774,210, which teaches a curved shield mounted to the platform to curve forwardly and downwardly over the auger from above and behind the auger, and a more recent product available from Michel's Industries Ltd. of St. Gregor, Saskatchewan, under the name Crop Catcher, which mounts at a similar location on the platform, but resides in a more upright orientation residing primarily behind the auger.
However, there remains room for improvement, and Applicant has developed an improved shield incorporating unique and advantageous features not heretofore seen in the prior art.